Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) on Tuesday urged the Trump administration to review its military equipment shipping policy in the wake of concerns that U.S. fighter jet parts were lost in China, making him the most senior Republican so far to weigh in on the debacle.
Cotton, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth outlining concerns after a shipment of fighter jet parts appeared to have been lost to the United States’ most powerful rival. F-35 stealth fighter components from Australia that were bound for the U.S. for repairs ended up being rerouted in transit over the summer and were eventually lost after arriving in Hong Kong.
“Classified and designated sensitive components should receive heightened protections, but all U.S. military material can provide adversaries valuable insight into U.S. weapons systems, logistics, and readiness, as well as access to American troops,” Cotton wrote. “Given the complexity of these global supply chains, prioritizing national security every step of the way is vital.”
The Pentagon is already investigating why the shipment was diverted to Hong Kong, with the F-35 Joint Program Office saying it is working on developing “safeguards to avoid a future occurrence.” The Chinese government has taken possession of the F-35 parts, which included a cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door, Bloomberg reported last week, describing the components as “potentially sensitive” parts.
In response to the incident, Cotton wants Hegseth to examine chain-of-custody requirements for military equipment shipped via third parties, the Pentagon’s ability to track those shipments, and safeguards to prevent military materiel from being diverted to China and other adversarial nations, according to Politico.
It remains unclear why the parts were rerouted to Hong Kong when UPS appeared to ship the components to the U.S. from Australia in late May.
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Last week, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles confirmed that the parts ended up in Hong Kong, but denied that any “sensitive” components were included in the shipment.
“We are obviously working with the United States and obviously with its prime contractor Lockheed Martin, in respect of this,” Marles told reporters.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
